Scraper for asphalt-cooking drums.



No. 705,954, -Patenied My 29,1902.

' J. P. NELSON.

SCRAPER FOR ASPHALT COOKING DRUMS.

(Application filed Apr. 21, 1902.)

(NOModaL) a 29 ll UNITED STATES PATENT JOHN P. NELSON, OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.

SCRAPER FOR ASPHALT-COOKING DRUMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 705,954, dated July 29, 1902. Application filed April 21, 1902. Serial No. 104,005. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN P. NELSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Antonio, in the county of Bexar and State of Texas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Scrapers for Asphalt-Cooking.

ive device of this character which is adapted to prevent the heated asphalt fromsticking or adhering to the inner surface of said drums, and thus clogging the same.

In the preparation of the natural rock asphalt for the paving of public streets such asphalt after having been crushed or pulverized is passed through what is commonly known as a cooking-drum, which is maintained in a heated condition and continuously revolved while the asphalt. is being passed through the same. After the asphalt has become heated to a certain extent it has a tendency to cling or adhere to the inner surface of said drum, and thus clog the same.

By virtue, however, of 'my imp'rovedscraper' the adherence of the heated asphalt to the drum is prevented. I employ in combination with such a drum a scraper having a straight edge adaptedlto bear against the inner surface of said drum, a shaft carrying said scraper and extending through and beyond the drum, and a weighted arm carried by the shaft outside the drum, and in the present case the bearings for the shaft are horizontally adjustable, so that the scraper can be moved nearer to or farther from the drum, and I prefer to employ'two" of such arms in order to secure a proper contact of the working edge of the scraper with the inner surface of the drum, and the weights thereof are generally made adjustable, so that a greater or less leverage can be exerted upon the scraper. As the arm or arms referred to are entirely outside of the drum, the weights thereof can be adjusted at any-time, even while the drum is in motion. Beside thisthe scrapervcan be moved out of its operative po sition by simply manipulating one or the other of said arms, it being understood that they are readily accessible for this purpose.

The invention is clearly represented in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of an asphaltcooking drum and my improved scraper. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the scraper, and Fig. 3 is a perspective sectional detail of a part of the scraper.

Like characters refer to like parts in all the figures.

In Fig. l I have shown at 5 an asphalt cooking drum which is of ordinary construction and which, as usual, is mounted at a slight incline toward the open end thereof,

so that the hot asphalt travels toward such end. The said drum is continuously rotated in the direction of the arrow by a suitable means (not shown) and is mounted upon the rollers 6 and 7, carried by suitable bearings upon the framework 8, the side-bars 9 of which are adapted also to sustain the scraper mechanism.

The scraper,which extends entirely through the drum, includes in its construction a plate 10, which has a curved lip 11, havinga straight edge 12, adapted to bear in contact with the in'ner'surface of the drum 5, as shown in Fig. 1. Said plate 10, may be made of steel or any other suitable material. The scraper-plate 10 is carried by a shaft 13, the two parts being suitably secured together-as, for exam ple, by means of the U-bolts 14, adapted to straddle the shaft 13 and the branches of which extend through the scraper-plate and are provided upon what may be considered the under ends thereof with the usual hold ing-nuts.

It will be understood that the shaft 13 ex tends entirely through the drum 5 and beyond the ends of said drum, said shaft being supported by bearings 15, supported upon The shaft 13 carries at its opposite ends the arms 17, suitably secured to said shaft and provided with sliding weights 18, held in their adjusted positions by set-screws 19.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the arms 17 extend upward toward the left, so that the weights 18 thereof are adapted to force the working edge of the scraper-plate into firm contact with the inner surface of the drum, and by adjusting one or both of the weights nearer to or farther from the axis of the rock-shaft 13 the pressure of the scraperplate against the drum can be regulated. It is apparent, of course, that one of the arms 17 may be omitted, although I prefer to employ twoof them in order to secure a more uniform contact of the scraper-plate with the drum. It will be seen that both of the arms are entirely outside of the drum, so that the weights 18 can be adjustedeven when the drum is in motion. Beside this the said arms.

serve as suitable hand-levers, and either one of them can be grasped to carry the working edge of the scraper-plate out of engagement with the drum. By virtue also of the disposition of the arms I may make them of considerable length, so that I can obtain a wide range of adjustment of the weights 18. As the drum rotates in the direction of the arrow the hot asphalt will travel slowly toward the open end thereof, as is the custom, and any of the asphalt that sticks to the inner surface of said drum will when it comes in contact with the straight and sharp edge of the scraper-plate be dislodged and will follow the curved portion 11 of the scraper-plate and will then fall back to the bottom of the drum.

The invention is not limited to the precise constructionhereinbefore described, for various changes may be made within the scope of the claims.

Having described the invention, what I claim is-- 1. The combination of an asphalt-cooking drum, a scraper-plate having a straight edge adapted to bear against the inner surface of said drum, a shaft carrying said scraper-plate and extending beyond the drum, 'a weighted arm carried by the shaft outside the drum, and adjustable bearings for said shaft.

2. The combination of an asphalt-cooking drum, a scraper-platehaving a straight edge adapted to bear against the inner surface of said drum, a shaft carrying said scraperplate and extending through and beyond the drum, weighted arms carried by the shaft outsidejthe drum, and the weights thereof being adjustable and horizontally-adjustable bearings for said shaft.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN P. NELSON.

' Witnesses:

A. H. BOOK, J. H. BRIGGS. 

